


everyone needs a place

by Princex_N



Series: allow yourself to grow [1]
Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Father-Son Relationship, First Meetings, Gen, Good Parent Joxaren | The Joxter, Kid Fic, Parenthood, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21936559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princex_N/pseuds/Princex_N
Summary: Joxter is still adjusting to the idea of being a father, and Snufkin is still adjusting to the Joxter's presence. Things have to work out eventually, right?
Relationships: Joxaren | The Joxter & Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Joxaren | The Joxter/Mymlan | The Mymble
Series: allow yourself to grow [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579636
Comments: 4
Kudos: 134





	everyone needs a place

The Joxter has never particularly considered himself 'father material'. 

But, here he is regardless. 

It's been nearly two weeks since he'd wandered back through a town he had been through before, only to be rewarded with a stack of letters his Mymble had been trying to send to him for years. Two weeks since he'd read the news that he had a son, a son who was struggling, who could possibly use his help, since Joxter decided it wouldn't hurt to try. 

He's warmed up to the idea the more he's thought on it, and he could even consider himself endeared to the concept by now. 

Of course, this doesn't change the fact that he is still horrifically out of his depth. 

This is what he knows so far: Snufkin (his son) is a very particular child who spends most of his time and energy being horrifically upset. No one has been able to piece together what _exactly_ manages to upset him so badly (particularly because he has yet to begin speaking, despite the fact that nearly every one of the Mymble's other children had at his size), and so very little can be done to soothe him. One can guess, of course, if it's the noise of the house, or his siblings' tendencies to break out into fights or teasing, or some other mysterious thing that sets him off. One can guess, but one can almost never be sure. 

As a result, he spends nearly all of his time in Mymble's arms. Due to the fact that she is the only one in the home that the other children occasionally consider listening to, she is often the only one who is able to drive them away long enough to grant Snufkin some peace. Besides that, he seems to be particularly clingy (excluding, of course, the times he will wordlessly demand to be set loose into the forest on his own). 

Clingy, but not at all interested in the Joxter. Despite the fact that it's been weeks since he'd arrived, Joxter is still finding it difficult to get Snufkin to even look in his general direction. He is, in a way, endeared by the child's solitary and aloof nature (it's no question of which parent he'd received these traits from), but remains equally disappointed by the lack of reciprocated curiosity. 

He's aware that he has no one to blame but himself (and, perhaps if one was stretching quite a bit, the Mymble's lack of persistence in trying to track him down - but it isn't as if the fathers of her _other_ children had proven any more dependable), but the disappointment lingers. He can only hope that he's able to be persistent enough to be around when things manage to change. 

In the meantime, Joxter alternates between indulging and hiding from the Mymble's other children. He tells himself it'll be good practice for when Snufkin warms up to him, but most of the time it's simply that the sheer number of persistent children tip the scales precariously in their favor. It takes someone made of tougher stuff than the Joxter to fend them off properly, and one can only hide from them for so long before they start to realize how much of an upper hand they are. 

(Children are more complicated creatures than Joxter had ever realized before. He hopes his son will prove somewhat easier to cope with.) 

Despite his insistence that he will manage to change Snufkin's mind about him, Joxter is still very aware that he is functionally useless at the moment. Any attempt to forcibly capture Snufkin's attention is thoroughly rebuffed with no small amount of distress, and he hardly thinks that trying to jump straight into taking care of the child himself will yield more successful results. 

This is why Joxter tends to simply sit off to the side when Snufkin has one of his crying fits that won't be soothed by anyone. If he's trying to get his son to _like_ him, he hardly thinks that upsetting him further is the best way to go about it. Regardless of how desperate the Mymble appears to get as the cries drag on and on - often compounded by the noise of other children begging for attention or fighting to be heard over the racket. (Joxter, of course, is also no fan of the noise, but he thinks that leaving the house entirely would probably earn him even fewer favors than just watching does.) 

He can tell that the noise is wearing on her today (that it has been for the past few hours), but he still isn't expecting to see her breathe out a deliberate sigh, gently work Snufkin's claws out from their grip on her shirt, and begin to walk in his direction. 

He's certainly not expecting her to practically drop his son in his lap. 

And possibly the most surprising of all, neither of them expect Snufkin to almost immediately cease crying entirely. 

Joxter and Mymble both watch in a stunned silence as the kit grabs onto his father's shirt and burrows his face into the fabric, still hiccuping around hitched breaths, but apparently done crying for now. 

"Seems he's been crying for _you_ this whole time," the Mymble laughs, ruffling the bewildered Joxter's hair. "Looks like he's finally warming up to you." 

She leaves very quickly after that, most likely to try and get some time to herself before the next Incident involving one of her children arises. Joxter remains where he sits, one paw curled protectively over his son's back, quietly marveling in the heat of the small body tucked against his. 

It would appear that his patience has paid off. 

**Author's Note:**

> Dug this out of the WIP folder and decided to go ahead and post it as a one-shot; I have a little more already written for this AU and am probably going to wind up writing more, so keep an eye out on the series (which will probably be a collection of one-shots instead of a singular fic/plot)!
> 
> [my tumblr](http://www.princex-n.tumblr.com)


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